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If you read part I of Seattle News and Social Media, you are probably beginning to ask some of the right questions about how news drives traffic and attention.

As we dive deeper on how Seattle News is consumed, we need to understand how keywords are related to it.

This section will cover some strategies for the keywords involve in Seattle News.

For most of the numbers I’m reviewing here I used the Google Adword tool and Google Traffic Estimator.

STEP ONE: Related Keyword Traffic

Whenever I look at a marketplace, I always look at some of the ‘common sense’ words that drive traffic (via Google Traffic Estimator.) In this case I’m looking at ‘Seattle News’ as a keyword and examining the top related search keywords. This first thin I do is look at the volume of traffic, as I want to understand where the eye balls are and if there is a branding or impression scenario to consider.

STEP TWO: Related Keyword Cost

The next item to look at (using Adwords Keyword Tool) is to examine the most expensive keywords related to the original term. This often exposes areas that businesses can have an opportunity around, as well as keywords that other businesses have bid the price up. If someone is willing to spend money on these, basic logic says I should ask the question of whether or not there is reasonable business opportunity there.

STEP 3: Where is our Audience?

You can’t just assume that everyone is searching for “Seattle News” is in Seattle…. the chart below details how a good chunk of the search volume is coming from Port Angeles and Tacoma, anywhere from 25 to 75 miles away.

If I had made the mistake of pursuing “Seattle News” as a local Seattle business, I may have been reaching an audience that was simply outside of my business market. You can explore this data using Google Insights.

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STEP 4: Keyword Funnels

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Any single keyword leads to another, leads to another.

When you are using Google you can see this in action by paying attention to Google auto-complete when they try to provide options as you type in your phrase.

When you are typing in the search box, pay close attention to the words and phrases that appear. This is invaluable for discovering what journey an online audience takes to discover new information.

One of these keyword funnels may be the exact audience you want to communicate with (for advertising or search optimization and Adwords) or simply help educate you on how your consumers are exploring relevant information.

STEP 5 : The Local Market

I’ll be digging into this topic on part 3 of Seattle News & Social Media.

Let me know if you have any questions and make sure to check out some of the related articles below.